4. What action is the Welsh Government taking to develop the economy of South Wales West? OQ57085

Thank you for the question, and it's good to see you after an enforced absence, and a return to this place. We're taking widespread action to invest in business. I set out an updated approach to moving the Welsh economy forward in the statement I gave to the Chamber on 19 October. We want to invest in people and infrastructure and support a fairer, greener and more prosperous economy in South Wales West and, of course, across the whole country, working with our partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors.

Thank you very much, Minister. Minister, I’m sure, if we want the people of South Wales West to experience the advantages of a growing economy over the next few years, we need to see a strategy focused not just on job creation, but jobs with bigger pay packets, rewarding the skills and commitment of the local people. Can the Minister set out how many new jobs he aims to support over the next four years? And what proportion will be better paid? Thank you.

Well, you’re right to focus on not just improving the number of people in work, but the quality of work that people have, including their pay. And as the Member will know, one of the key factors in that is investing in the skills of the workforce, investing in our people, and that’s one of the big challenges that we face here, and it’s one of my significant frustrations about the lack of a respectful and joined-up approach with the United Kingdom Government. The recent announcements made on levelling-up funding—the announcement made up until the announcement today was about £120 million in 10 projects, projects that are in the majority based in Conservative UK parliamentary constituencies that don’t actually meet any definition of levelling-up funding, funding that actually does not match the previous promises that have been made. It leaves Wales £0.25 billion short in just this first year at least, and that is money that would otherwise have been spent on innovation in supporting higher education, otherwise would have been spent supporting our skills agenda, otherwise spent on supporting the economy. And that’s the challenge here. I think that this place and our country should be treated with a deal more respect. And the promises that were made about not losing out on a single penny that have been very clearly broken in the Chancellor's recent statement—I'd like to hear some Welsh Conservatives standing up for Wales and saying, 'We want our money back.'